Independence Constitution

Independent Guyana's first constitution (a modified version of the
1961 constitution) took effect on the first day of independence, May 26,
1966. It reaffirmed the principle that Guyana was a democratic state
founded on the rule of law. The titular head of the country was the
British monarch, represented in Guyana by the governor general, who
served in a largely ceremonial capacity. Real executive power rested in
the prime minister, appointed by the majority party in the unicameral
fifty-three-member National Assembly, and his ministers. The first
postindependence elections, conducted in 1968, confirmed the dominant
role of the PNC and its leader, Forbes Burnham.

On February 23, 1970, the Burnham government proclaimed the
Cooperative Republic of Guyana. This move had both economic and
political ramifications. The government argued that the country's many
resources had been controlled by foreign capitalists and that organizing
the population into cooperatives would provide the best path to
development.

The 1970 proclamation severed Guyana's last significant
constitutional tie to Britain. The governor general, heretofore the
ceremonial head of state, was replaced by a president, also a ceremonial
figure. Arthur Chung, a Chinese-Guyanese, was the country's first
president.

Although its ties to the British monarch were broken, Guyana remained
within the Commonwealth of Nations. Membership in the Commonwealth
allowed Guyana to reap the benefits of access to markets in Britain and
to retain some of the defense arrangements that Britain offered its
former colonies. In particular, the British defense umbrella was seen as
a deterrent to Venezuelan claims on Guyanese territory.